Getting Caught in Betty's Web

Abbeville, LA (54 degrees, chilly, overcast)

We spent a few days in New Orleans and had such a great time. I lived here for a couple years in the 80's and it's my first time back. It's a busy, dirty city with a great vibe, wonderful food, and  music playing everywhere. We stayed across the Mississippi River at Bayou Segnette State Park. It's a very pretty campground, reasonably priced and has what we call the "it factor". You can drive about 15 minutes to a ferry which takes you across the river for $2/person (exact change only) and walk easily into the French Quarter and all the major attractions. Parking at the ferry ranges from $5-20 depending on what's going on in the city. It's easy and less expensive then trying to drive into the city and find parking especially during this time with all the parades and festivities for Mardi Gras.

We signed up for two walking tour with a company called Free Walking Tours by Foot. They were highly recommended by Trip Advisor. The first tour we took was a French Quarter Tour and our guide did a great job. She took us all over the area with frequent stops to tell us some interesting history about a building or person. 

The next day we signed up for a French Quarter Culinary History Tour and it was excellent. This is not a tour where you have food but rather it informs you about the many cuisines and influences of this area. We had a wonderful tour of the famous Antoine Restaurant and we walked by many famous restaurants and cafes.  Kayla is a delightful Cajun women who weaves stories of her childhood and the wonderful food she grew up with and now cooks for her friends and family. 

You pay what you think is appropriate or what you can afford. It's a rather interesting business concept and both tours had about 20 or so people. We wove in and out of the French Quarter and afterwards she sent us an email of all her favorite restaurants.  It was a lot of fun and lasted about 2 1/2 hours. 

Food is such an important part of New Orleans and the people here love telling you about their favorite restaurant. This is certainly not a time to be on diet and we had some fun indulging in some great food and cocktails too. We stopped and had a Cafe Au Lait and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde and a delicious lunch at K Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. 

John enjoyed his hurricane Pat O'Briens

One of the early parades to celebrate Mardi Gras strolled down Royal Street n the afternoon. It was the Krew of Cork who of coarse celebrate all things involving wine. It was a walking parade rather than the elaborate floats and tons of fun. Lots of beads and doubloons (small commemorative coins) were thrown. Some of the costumes were very elaborate and many had wine corks sewn in the clothing or hats.

Even the dog is wearing beads

We are now in Abbeville a couple hours west of New Orleans at Betty's RV Park. This is a must stop on your bucket list and most of our friends have stayed here. Betty is legendary and in her small RV park she manages to carefully fill it to it's capacity. She has it down to a science. Be ready to  hit the ground running. She packs in all kinds of activities and dining out experiences. We pulled in and had just enough time to plug in our coach before we headed out to a fun bar to hear a local band. Each evening is spent on her patio or screened in porch for happy hour. Everyone is expected to be there and the appetizers were delicious. You won't need to go out for dinner. Lots of laughs are shared and she does such a great job of including everyone and making you feel so welcome. Most of the folks here have been coming for years. We made our reservations well in advance. One evening was spent watching the exciting Super Bowl game with tons of food and beverages.

One day we all drove out to a small town for a local parade in Scott. After we set up for a  good place to watch the parade along the road we all walked over to Billy's  Boudin and Cracklins. You stand in line for quite awhile and we asked everyone what they were going to order. By the time we got to the counter it only seemed appropriate to try a little bit of everything. We had different kinds of boudin,  a yummy rice and sausage  combination rolled into a ball and then battered and fried or you could have it stuffed into  an egg roll. We also tried spicy cracklings and a crayfish pie. I have never tired any of these delectables and rate them all delicious. 

The parade was lots of fun and we all came back with bags of beads. They were very generous and we all danced and waved our hands frantically trying to get some more beads. 

We reluctantly now need to leave to have a repair done at Cummings. The saying here is you will be back many times because you will get caught up in her web.  We will certainly be back.